Protest Batsheva for Israeli Apartheid Week 2019

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Press Release

March 27, 2019, New York, NY - Sixty New York human rights advocates gathered this evening outside the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) for a music and dance-filled protest of the opening night performance of the Batsheva Dance Company, a leader in helping the Israeli government whitewash its systematic repression of the Palestinian people.

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Dance Magazine

Abstract:

But why target a dance company? What does Batsheva have to do with Israel's geopolitical conflicts? The protestors, who tend to be locally organized members of the larger Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, see Batsheva as a tool of the Israeli government's efforts to distract from political controversies, such as the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Mark the anniversary of Great March of Return in Gaza with us as we oppose the artwashing of Israeli Apartheid in NYC

On March 27, just days before the one-year anniversary of Gaza’s Great March of Return, Batsheva Dance Company will be performing in NYC as a willing participant in the Israeli government’s Brand Israel public relations campaign that uses art and culture to divert attention from Israel’s violent repression of the Palestinian people, including Israel’s war crimes and crimes against Palestinian protesters in Gaza.

Batsheva’s North American tour is being promoted by the Israeli government’s Office of Cultural Affairs. Batsheva refuses to disavow its close partnership with the Israeli government. Batsheva’s NYC host, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), rejected Adalah-NY’s request to meet to discuss its complicity in the Brand Israel campaign and Israel’s decades of denial of Palestinian freedom.

So we’ll protest! With music from the Rude Mechanical Orchestra and dancing from the Freedom Dabka group, we'll let Batsheva and BAM know that art should be for liberation, not whitewashing colonization. Help mark the one-year anniversary of Gaza’s Great March of Return here in NYC, and come participate in the 15th annual Israeli Apartheid Week.